SYDNEY: The PlayStation 4 version of Saints Row IV: Re-Elected has been recalled in Australia due to a “serious manufacturing issue,” a local agency stated today. An “incorrectly classified” version of the game went on sale at retailers last week.
Customers who purchased a physical PS4 version of the game are able to return it to the retailer for a full refund. Replacement copies with “correct content” will be available at retailers “soon.” Digital versions and Xbox One retail copies of the game are unaffected by the recall.
Saints Row IV: Re-Elected is the PS4 and Xbox One port of 2013’s Saints Row IV, which was initially refused classification in Australia due to implied sexual violence and drug use related to player incentive.
Specifically, the game’s inclusion of an “Alien Anal Probe” resulted in the Australian Classification Board’s ruling, which stated that a “weapon designed to penetrate the anus of enemy characters and civilians constitutes a visual depiction of implied sexual violence that is interactive and not justified by context.”
The game’s inclusion of illicit drugs referred to as “alien narcotics” was noted by the board as “commonly assigned to describe a class of real-world drugs that include such proscribed substances as cocaine and heroin…this game therefore contains drug use related to incentives and rewards, and should be refused classification.”
Publisher Koch Media appealed the Australian Classification Board’s decision, but it was upheld, which resulted in the game being banned from sale in Australia. A modified version of the game was submitted for classification and eventually granted an MA15+ rating, enabling it to be sold in the country.
